


Like a Child

by cognitiveandbehavioraltorture



Category: Neon Genesis Evangelion
Genre: Anxiety, Bad Parenting, Child Neglect, Doctors & Physicians, Gen, Medical Examination
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-19
Packaged: 2021-03-16 02:08:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29568681
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cognitiveandbehavioraltorture/pseuds/cognitiveandbehavioraltorture
Summary: Rei needs a parent and Gendo just isn't one.
Kudos: 1





	Like a Child

It isn’t nakedness itself that’s shameful, but nakedness before others who are all clothed. Is that it?  


That’s what Ayanami Rei thinks, at least, surrounded by Nerv’s doctors. She gets rigorous physical and mental examinations semi-regularly, as a pilot, but despite their regularity, they never become any less invasive. And so it goes now.  


The lab is kept purposefully cold, so as to maintain specimens. She does not shiver in her cotton school uniform, though it was designed not for cold, but to provide some solace from the oppressive, constant heat of Tokyo-3. It does no good at all here. No use.  


Ayanami Rei is used to invasive, to cold. She is used to poking and prodding, observation and note-taking, silence heavy with the studying of others. However, she is not used to Gendo being here to witness it. And today, he is.  


His glasses make him as inscrutable as ever. And Rei feels newly breakable. There are too many people in the room. She sees herself reflected, tinted orange. Maybe it isn’t nakedness that hurts, but the awareness that she is. Maybe it would be better if she didn’t know.  


“One doctor may examine me, but everyone else must turn around,” She says, her voice thin but clear. The multitude of labcoat-clad personnel hesitate before turning sheepishly to Gendo, who gives a slight nod. He shows not discomfort, but pain, and averts his eyes. The Nerv staff, save for Gendo and the doctor standing closest to Rei, all turn their backs.  


The doctor’s gloved hands reach forward to unbutton her shirt, and the rough white fabric slides down her shoulders and bares her chest. Her clothes fall away, and she is naked in the brutal frigidity of the lab, thousands of feet underground.  


Down to the ground she slumps like a cloth doll, wrapping her arms around her spindly frame, shaking silently. The doctor tries to catch her wrist as she hits the ground, but she slips from his grasp. A soft wail pierces the heavy pause, and like a child, she cries for her father.  


If things were different, maybe General Ikari would have rushed to her side, covered her in his dark coat and rocked her in his arms. She would be warmed and comforted by his body heat and she could bury her small, pale face in the knit of the shoulder of his shirt.  


But Gendo Ikari gives off no warmth.


End file.
